STOP
by alanwolfmoon
Summary: Cuddy has known House since college. she's known something about his life since then. but she's never done anything about it.


Greg curled up, shivering, as the huge figure hulked over him, raising one meaty fist.

He tried to scrabble out of the tub, but the icy water had numbed his limbs, and he fell, hitting his head on the hard rim.

As he faded out of consciousness, he reflected that at least his dad wouldn't yell at him for making smart-aleck remarks while unconscious.

Greg groaned, opening his eyes. His vision was blurry, but it wasn't exactly the first time that had happened, so he wasn't very worried. It was cold, he was soaking wet, and he was pretty sure that he was somewhere on the parade grounds.

He saw a vague shape coming towards him, and tried to get away, but his mind was fuzzy and he couldn't control his limbs correctly, and he landed flat on his stomach.

"Gregory?" asked the person, kneeling next to him, "What on earth happened?"

Oh. Mom. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

"Philipe." the biggest boy in the kids barracks—also the most temperamental.

He heard her sigh, and felt himself being gathered up into her arms.

"Poor thing, you're soaking wet. How long have you been out here?"

"Dunno. Passed out."

"Oh... Gregory... why don't you just yell for help? You would save yourself so much pain..."

"Dad says that's a sissy thing to do."

He felt her take a step, and his stomach rebelled.

Lisa put her hands to her mouth, standing in the entrance to the ally between the lab building and the cafeteria.

She was frozen, she couldn't move forward to stop it, she couldn't run back to get help.

She saw blue eyes catch her, and saw the person they belonged to shake his head.

Her lip was trembling, she couldn't do anything...

The man finally dropped her rival-somewhat friend to the ground, and stalked past her, not even bothering to hide his—familiar—face.

The spell broke as john passed her, and she hurried forward, kneeling next to Greg.

"He--"

"Shut up." he choked, struggling to stand up.

Lisa pulled his arm over her shoulders, helping him stand.

"is anything broken?" she asked, slowly walking with him towards the open space of the campus square.

"No."

"What--"

"shut up."

Lisa sighed, guiding him towards her dorm building.

His roommate was a complete gossip, she knew, and she doubted Greg wanted him to see this.

Greg didn't object, even when it became obvious where they were headed.

"Are you--"

"shut up." he snapped, the words on separate panting breaths.

"Are you ok?" she persisted.

He coughed a little, but nodded.

"Yeah."

They eventually got to Lisa's dorm, and she helped Greg sit on her bed—her roommate was undoubtedly out with some guy, and probably would be for the rest of the night.

He coughed a little more, and covered his nose with his hand.

"I take that back..." he muttered, as Lisa gently placed some pillows behind him, "Think I might've broken my nose."

Lisa nodded, hesitantly covering his hand with her own.

He withdrew his, letting her check his nose herself.

"It doesn't feel like a bad break, if it is broken. I've got some soda in the fridge."

"Not really that thirsty..." he mumbled, grabbing a tissue out of a box on her table to wipe the freshest layer of blood off his upper lip and chin.

"I meant to put on your eye—it's gonna be swollen shut by morning if you don't get the swelling down."

"Oh."

She wrapped the can in a thin towel, then paused, gently spreading his already-swollen eyelid.

"Can you see out of this?"

He closed his other eye, and paused.

"Badly, but yeah."

She nodded, and gently pressed the can over it.

His hand came up, touching hers just briefly.

She swallowed, looking down at him as he lay on her bed, face and shirt covered in blood, bruises blossoming all over his limbs and face.

"Why?" she whispered, so quietly he barely heard her.

He blinked slowly, with his remaining open eye.

"If I knew that... well, I don't."

Lisa nodded, biting her lower lip.

Then she gently touched the side of his face, in one of the few non-bruised areas.

He looked at her, surprised.

She smiled tentatively, and brushed her fingers down along his jaw, onto his chest, stopping as she found an odd jut in his side.

Greg grimaced, obvious in pain, as he fingers pressed on the bump.

"Ribs?" she asked, gently lifting his shirt.

He nodded, pressing his head back into the pillows, fighting the pain.

Lisa softly pressed on each rib in turn, feeling for movement or odd ridges.

"You were wrong, even if your nose isn't broken. Three of your ribs are."

He grimaced a little bit more, beginning to really look pale.

"Hey, we should get you to the first aid--"

"No way in hell." he snapped, then clenched his teeth, as talking jolted his ribs.

"Why not?"

"It's just ribs. Not like they can do anything about it."

"They can give you painkillers, and if your nose is broken--"

"If it is, it isn't bad enough to require attention. And I'm used to it."

Lisa stared at him.

"You don't want them to see your x-rays." she said, accusingly.

He shrugged, "You got me there."

Lisa sighed, biting her lower lip again.

"Look, there's no internal injuries, you can check for hemorrhaging as much as you want. But I'm not going there. This isn't exactly new for me, ok?"

Lisa watched him for a long time, then finally nodded, still looking upset, but not about to deprive him of much needed rest by continuing a pointless argument. Pointless, because she knew he was too stubborn to ever concede it.

Greg's eye was starting to close of its own accord, so Lisa got up and turned off the lights, removing his shoes for him and covering him with her blanket.

He was asleep before she finished telling him to sleep well.

As soon as the bruises faded, Greg was back in class, and Lisa could see no sign of the pain he was in on his face.

Cuddy sighed, stepping out onto the balcony.

House's parents had just left, his patient was dying, and she knew he had to have a lot on his mind.

House didn't turn, even as she touched his shoulder.

"House?" she asked, frowning.

He sighed, evidently recognizing her voice, turning around to reveal the purpling bruise on his chin.

She bit her lower lip, touching it gently, just with two fingers.

"Anything else?"

He shook his head, turning back around to look over the campus.

Cuddy knelt, taking an icepack out of the small bag she had brought.

House jumped as she pressed it against the bruise, staring at her with confusion in his blue eyes.

She shook her head.

"That's got to hurt."

He shrugged, cutting off the brief moment of openness.

Cuddy withdrew the pack, feeling awkward.

Then she gently lifted House's hand off the balcony wall, pressing the pack into it.

"I'm sorry." she said, quietly, turning to go.

House turned around, for a moment the part of him that wanted her to stay overpowering the rest of him, but it didn't last long enough for him to get the words out.

He watched her go, the icepack cold in his hand.

He closed his eyes, raising his face to the sky—it was starting to rain.

Even he wasn't sure whether all the wet on his face was from the clouds above.

Wilson hesitated, watching House stand in the doorway of his father's hospital room.

Cancer. Blythe had asked House who the best oncologist he knew of was, he had answered Wilson's name without knowing it would cause his father to be a patient to his best friend.

He turned around, surprised, as Cuddy touched his shoulder.

"Hey." she said, quietly.

Wilson blinked at her. She seemed upset.

"How bad is it?" she asked him without meeting his eyes.

"Treatable. Colon, caught it early. Routine colonoscopy."

Cuddy nodded, not saying anything else.

Wilson looked between her and House, frowning.

"What's going on? Why are you upset? Why won't House go in there?"

Cuddy shook her head, turning to go.

Cuddy looked up, as familiar footsteps entered her office.

Then she looked back down, as House sat in the chair in front of her desk, not looking at her, not talking.

They hated each other.

They fought mercilessly with each other.

She was his boss.

He couldn't stand her.

She was his oldest even sort of friend.

She was the only one who could really keep up with him.

She was the only one who knew.

She was the only one who knew to stay quiet and let him sit there, taking the comfort he couldn't bring himself to vocalize his need for.

She was glad he had come.

She was glad he was letting her comfort him.

She wanted to give him that comfort.

She wished she could give it to him more often.

She hoped he never needed it again.

She knew there would always be another time he needed her.

She hated it.

Just... hated it.

He had enough pain in his life, he didn't deserve this kind.

He opened his eyes, raising his head and looking at her silently.

"Thank you."

She nodded.

He closed his eyes again, lowering his head.

Cuddy closed her own eyes, biting her lip.

Cuddy walked up next to House, as he stood, leaning heavily on his cane as he watched his dad being wheeled to the front door.

"You say goodbye?" she asked, touching his shoulder.

He looked at her briefly, then back at his dad.

"Yeah." he said, indicating the bruise on his cheekbone, "He's got his strength back."

Cuddy bit her lip, nodding silently.

House sighed, standing in front of his father, as the burly ex-marine uncrossed his arms, red in the face.

And it was going to happen again... oh well... he had been expecting it.

Cuddy stood, hands covering her face, frozen in the doorway of the service hallway.

She couldn't move forward to stop him, she couldn't move back to get help.

She saw his eyes catch her, and House shook his head.

She couldn't do anything...

She bit her trembling lip.

The fist contacted flesh.

She bit harder.

She tasted blood.

Blood.

House's blood.

House's pain.

She didn't want it to happen anymore.

She wanted it to stop.

It had to stop.

It. Had. To...

"STOP!"

Cuddy groaned, opening her eyes.

Why was she on a hospital bed?

Why was the room blurry?

"Cuddy?"

She turned towards the voice, and her stomach rebelled.

An arm wrapped around her shoulders, helping her lean over a basin the person was holding.

"What happened?" she asked, spitting as much acid out of her mouth as she could.

A cup of water touched her lips and she took a sip, spitting it out into the basin with the rest of the liquid.

"You told him to stop."

There had been an odd quality to House's voice, as he had said that single line.

It had been trembling.

"Are you mad?"

"At you?"

"Yes."

"No."

"At him?"

"Mad doesn't come close."

"Why?"

"Why do you think?"

"I don't know."

"Because I hate him."

"For hitting you?"

"No."

"Then why? Isn't' that enough?"

"That's always been the case. I've never hated him."

"You told me you hated him two years ago."

"I was angry."

"Why do you hate him now, then?"

House looked at her, silently, for a long time.

"Because he hurt you."

"Oh."


End file.
